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But we said yes, mostly because Ethan, our oldest, wanted to join. And it seemed like a really good thing to do. My husband was never into Scouting and my memories of being a Girl Scout involve a few camping trips and a visit to the Juliette Lowe House in Savannah. Also, cookies.

We decided we would take Scouting one year at a time, and like everything else in my life in that season, I took a survivalist approach. What was the bare minimum we could do to be involved in Scouting without it pushing me over the edge?

Like Blount, I don’t think the quality of Southern writers had anything to do with the Civil War except maybe Dixie had a bumper crop of poverty after the war. Poor children develop vivid imaginations and can entertain themselves for hours with an oddly shaped stick. Once some Southerners reached adulthood, they put aside the oddly shaped sticks in favor of pens and typewriters.

Blount figured that Northern writers and barbecue just aren’t as good.

Real Southerners know that barbecue is a meat dish, not an event or an outdoor appliance.

According to the Federal Register, on December 7, 2009, the EPA “found” that current and projected concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations. Unfortunately, this finding and the EPA’s subsequent action threaten the public health and welfare of Georgians far more than greenhouse gases do.

When you find yourself stuck in a deep hole, the first thing you should do is stop digging.

Georgia’s Democratic Party has been in a deep hole for a while. The party hasn’t been able to win many elections, it hasn’t had much money, and it didn’t have a chairman when Mike Berlon resigned in June.

The members of the party’s state committee convened in Newnan recently to elect a new state chairman and, perhaps, stop digging the hole any deeper.

I’ve always been the kind of woman who retains watermelons. I blame it on my constitution. Melons have spent weeks with me in the summer, traveling from pool to picnic to lake to porch and home again. My children develop attachments and name them. An amicable, albeit odd, friendship forms.

This watermelon is different. When I thump it, I cannot hear its soul. It frightens me.

In early June, I sowed the 12 seeds of my unraveling. Only two seeds sprouted. Only one of those sprouts produced a watermelon.

On turning 60, George Washington wrote in letters to friends: “The time is not far distant when I must sleep with my Fathers.” I was a history student reading those words. My professors told me that Washington lacked Thomas Jefferson’s “peculiar felicity of expression.” Even though I was studying at Mr. Jefferson’s university, I found it hard not to feel the beauty of Washington’s words.

If you’re a Democrat in Georgia, there are reasons to feel optimistic about the future.

The state’s changing demographic mix normally would bode well for the party, as the percentage of white voters has dropped below 60 percent and the numbers of black and Latino voters who are more likely to vote for a Democrat continue to grow.

There is still a substantial base of Democratic support in this conservative, Republican-leaning state. Barack Obama drew 47 percent of Georgia’s vote in 2008 and nearly 46 percent in 2012.

I have some funny friends and even funnier family members, myself included. Think back through your life and remember what you believe to be the most embarrassing moment ever.

Recently my good friend and neighbor, Charlotte, came to visit. As soon as I saw her I said, “What happened? Didn’t you get picked?” She had been called for jury duty beginning at 9 that morning and totally forgot about it. This is a person who never forgets anything. In fact, she was actually looking forward to serving. Her only comment was, “The little voices in my head forgot to remind me.”